The Betrothal Situation: Dating Susan Bones
by GryffindorTom
Summary: Susan Bones, a Fifth Year Hufflepuff is in love with fellow Fifth Year, Harry Potter, leader of Dumbledore's Army and the Boy-Who-Lived. The only thing is that Harry must hide from his friends is the fact that he is Dating Susan Bones. Prequel to The Betrothal Situation.
1. 01 – The DA Meeting

Title **Dating Susan Bones**

Rating **T**

Chapter **01 – The DA Meeting**

Summary **Prequel to The Betrothal Situation. Susan Bones, a Fifth Year Hufflepuff is in love with fellow Fifth Year, Harry Potter, leader of Dumbledore's Army and the Boy-Who-Lived. The only thing is that Harry must hide from his friends is the fact that he is Dating Susan Bones.**

Pairings **Harry/Susan, Neville/Ginny, Ernie/Hannah**

Warnings **Contains some mild language and violence throughout.**

-Dating Susan Bones-

 **Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**

 **10th October 1995**

Harry Potter was doing a rare thing in his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he was smiling! He had started the DA session when he saw a very good looking redhead. The redhead that had popped up in his sights was Susan Bones, the niece of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones.

Harry remembered the first time that he had seen the young lady who had set his stomach afloat and that was the meeting on the first Hogsmeade visit of the year, the one that he found members for the DA.

It was the only thing that, in reality, he could thank Hermione Granger for. Without the actions that the bushy haired bookworm for, Harry knew that he probably would have had to end up settling for the bookworm, or worse Ginny Weasley, his best friend's sister, a girl who he knew was out of bounds for the pure fact that she looked a dead ringer for his mother, Lily Potter.

Harry still could not get over the fact that, during the previous night's game of Truth or Dare that the Fifth-Year Gryffindor boys played, Dean Thomas had got his friend drunk on Firewhiskey that the Weasley Twins had smuggled in via the secret passages from Honeydukes.

To top it all off, Seamus Finnegan, another of the Gryffindor boys, who was equally as drunk AS Ron, dared the redhead to go down to the Slytherin Common Room, with the dare being to kiss the Slytherin Ice Princess, Daphne Greengrass. Ron returned, with his gentlemanly parts frozen, and a visit to Madam Pomfrey being required, resulting him in missing the first DA session!

Harry walked around the Room of Requirements keeping one eye on everyone, with the other one on Susan Bones. Eventually it was time to wind the DA Meeting up and so Harry watched everyone leave the room.

- **Dating Susan Bones-**

Susan noticed Harry was going to hold her back and she turned to her best friend, Hannah Abbot. "Wait for me in the Common Room Hannah, I think Harry needs to speak to me."

"Why Susan? Is it so you can give Mr Potter there a kiss?" the blonde-haired girl asked her friend. "I know you fancy him and that you want to snog his socks off!

"Hannah Abbott! Please don't put your nose into things that don't concern you!" Susan said, trying to hide a smile. "It is very unbecoming of a lady!"

"Oh Bones!" Hannah said in a sing song voice, smiling at how she was trying to wind her friend up, "Just make sure that his Snake is very well protected!"

"Behave yourself Abbott or I will let Justin know about how you were staring at his arse throughout Herbology," the redhead countered.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"I would if it stopped you from getting on my back about my feelings for Harry!" Susan said, going as red as her hair. Hannah suddenly left the Room of Requirements without her friend knowing. Suddenly she heard footsteps approach her.

"Hello Susan." A voice came from behind her. Susan turned to see that it was the leader of Dumbledore's Army himself, Harry Potter.

-Dating Susan Bones-

Harry approached the girl, but he felt funny during the DA session, only when he was around Susan. He knew he had to say something to her, lest he be a fool to himself.

"Hello Susan" Harry said, smiling. He saw Susan turn around, considering his eyes. ' _Why do women always do that, consider my eyes as if they wanted me?_ ' Thinking of the first thing that he could say, he decided to complement her. "You did very good tonight Susan, better than people like Hermione or the Chasers."

"Thanks Harry. My Aunt Amelia taught me a little bit, as she is head of the DMLE, as you know. That means that she oversees the Aurors and Hit Wizards." Susan said, returning Harry's smile. "She wanted me to be able to protect myself in case You-Know-Who is back."

"So…so she believes me?" Harry asked, hoping what he was saying was true.

"She does." Susan confirmed "She also taught me things so I could look after the man I have feelings for."

"Who is it Susan?" Harry asked, the knot in his chest tightening. Closing her eyes, Susan sighed.

"You see Harry, he has these emerald eyes which I find really, really cute," she said, going red at the sight of seeing her crush. "He also has hair which is really messy, yet extremely windswept, like he had just come out of a dive hunting for a Snitch. I just really-"

Susan suddenly stopped because she felt Harry melt his lips into hers, his one hand on her waist, the other cupping her face. Feeling his tongue move across her lips, she opened up, her tongue forming a duel for dominance. Harry let his eyes open when suddenly he observed the name Delores Umbridge appear nearby on the Marauders Map which he had open.

Straightening their uniform, they left the Room of Requirement, Harry clearing the map so Umbridge would not be aware of what it was, heading in separate directions to their common rooms.

Heading to Gryffindor Tower, Harry bumped into Umbridge. "Well…well…well," Umbridge said in her sickly-sweet voice, smiling, "What are you doing out of your Common Room at this time of night Mr Potter?"

-Dating Susan Bones-

Delores Umbridge was smiling. She had just received word from a Slytherin student, Pansy Parkinson, that there would be a meeting of students on the Seventh-Floor corridor, a meeting that would be in contravention of Educational Decree number 24, a decree made legal by her dear Minister, Cornelius Fudge. The decree was created to disband all student organisations, societies, teams, groups and clubs.

The decree was enacted following information she had been given by Willy Widdershins, a conman and vandal who worked often with Mundungus Fletcher, as part of a Plea Bargain on charges of Muggle baiting, charges laid by Amelia Bones and Arthur Weasley.

Leaving her office next to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, she headed up to the Seventh Floor where she bumped into the bane of her dear Cornelius's life, Harry Potter.

Heading to Gryffindor Tower, Harry bumped into Umbridge. "Well…well…well," Umbridge said in her sickly-sweet voice, smiling, "What are you doing out of your Common Room at this time of night Mr Potter?"

Harry looked at the pink cardigan wearing toad and smiled. "Professor Umbridge, I was heading to Gryffindor Tower, having been to see my girlfriend to inspect a broom closet." He said, channelling what his godfather would say to a professor.

"Detention Potter for being out after curfew." Umbridge said, a toad like grin appearing on her face.

Umbridge watched the raven-haired teen walk away and frowned. ' _Potter is exactly like his father was when he was a Hit Wizard, lying to his superiors. Merlin help us if he ever becomes one! I must see Cornelius and let him know what Potter was up to!_ ' the Defence Professor thought as she watched the teen away, all ideas of a bust against an illegal club completely out of her mind.

 **Hufflepuff Common Room, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**

 **10th October 1995**

"So, what was it like Bones?" Hannah asked her friend. "Did you get to snog Potter?"

"Damn girl, you snogged Harry Potter!" Megan Jones, one of their fellow Fifth Years said, smiling. "Susan Bones, you are a lucky bitch!"

"Come on Bones, give us details girl!" Sophie Roper, another of their year mates said in mock scandal. "Is his kissing style any good?"

"Only you would ask when you have snogged half of our year!" Megan said, trying to reel her friend back in. "I could list it easily as you've snogged Boot, Malfoy, Goldstein, Zabini, Nott, Goyle, Crabbe-"

"Ok! Anyway, you can hardly talk Jones! Don't forget you tried to snog Longbottom when he had that one dance with you at the Yule Ball!" Sophie said, "And then scarpered when Ginny Weasley acted like a dragon at you!"

"What! Longbottom and Weasley!" Megan Said. "She has to have him on Love Potions!"

"Anyway, by the look on Susan's face, she probably came over the bedtime kiss that she gave Harry Potter!" Hannah said, smiling as her friend went red. The girls continued chatting throughout the night, mainly spending the time discussing Harry Potter, but little did they expect their friend want more of Harry Potter!

-Dating Susan Bones-

 **A/N** – _Coming Up in Chapter 02 - The Great Hall, A ferret starts a problem and Umbridge…_

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the **Harry Potter series.** Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Social Media** You can now like " **GryffindorTom** " on Facebook and Twitter to get all of the latest news, bits I'm working on, story updates and much more. You can also discuss this story and much, much more on Reddit - just navigate to r/ **GryffindorTomOfficial** on there.

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter

 **Status** WIP

 **Distribution** FFN, AO3, HP FanFic Archive, GryffindorTom Online

 **Story ID** **074**

 **Publish Date** **24/12/2016**


	2. 02 – Bones and Potter

Title **Dating Susan Bones**

Rating **T**

Chapter **02 – Bones and Potter**

Warnings **Contains some mild language and violence throughout.**

 _This chapter, like most of the following ones, will use some elements of canon text within as to help set the scene._

-Dating Susan Bones-

 **Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**

 **21** **st** **October 1995**

It had been nearly two weeks since Harry Potter had kissed his fellow fifth year, Susan Bones, in the Room of Requirement following the successful first meeting of Dumbledore's Army, the DA and he was feeling down. Because of being tailed by his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, he had not been able to get to speak to Susan alone.

What made it worse for Harry was that every time he had seen her, she had been surrounded by her friends, Hannah Abbott and her new boyfriend, Ernie Macmillan, Megan Jones and Sophie Roper. He knew he needed to see Susan alone as otherwise he would end up going barmy at the lack of contact.

' _If only Sirius could see me now, thinking about nothing but Susan, he would probably call me pathetic!'_ he thought, wishing that he could feel Susan's lips connecting to his.

Looking at Susan, he saw her writing a note onto a Muggle notepad that she kept in her bag. Finishing her meal, Harry watched as she left the Hufflepuff table and went past the Gryffindor table, where he was seated, and passed him a note in a move like a spy would.

Unfolding the note, he saw Susan's writing and smiled.

' _Harry,_

 _I really miss you. Meet me today after the match in the place where we talked last._

 _Love, Susan.'_

Knowing it was nearly time for the game against Slytherin, Harry felt optimistic about Gryffindor's chances; they had, after all, never lost to Malfoy's team. Admittedly Ron, the newest member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, was still not performing to Wood's standard, but he was working extremely hard to improve. His greatest weakness was a tendency to lose confidence when he made a blunder; if he let in one goal he became flustered and was therefore likely to miss more.

On the other hand, Harry had seen Ron make some truly spectacular saves when he was on form: During one memorable practice, he had hung one-handed from his broom and kicked the Quaffle so hard away from the goal hoop that it soared the length of the pitch and through the centre hoop at the other end.

Finishing his meal, he knew that it was time to head down to the pitch, and the game that was ahead of him…

 **Quidditch Stadium, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**

 **21** **st** **October 1995**

The match, Harry would later describe, was a lot of work, but he would be glad that the Gryffindor team had won the game. It had been tight in the scoring, especially as Slytherin were using Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle as a pair of human bludgers.

Eventually Harry landed when he heard a snort from behind him and turned around, still holding the Snitch tightly in his hand: Draco Malfoy had landed close by; white-faced with fury, he was still managing to sneer.

"Saved Weasley's neck, haven't you?" he said to Harry. "I've never seen a worse Keeper . . . but then he was born in a bin…in fact I must ask, did you enjoy my lyrics, Potter?"

Harry did not answer, trying to think about his meeting later that he had planned with Susan, turning to meet the rest of the team who were now landing one by one, yelling and punching the air in triumph, all except Ron, who had dismounted from his broom over by the goalposts and was making his way slowly back to the changing rooms alone.

"We wanted to write another couple of verses!" Malfoy called, as Katie and Alicia hugged Harry. "But we couldn't find rhymes for fat and ugly — we wanted to sing about his mother, see —"

"Talk about sour grapes," said Angelina, casting Malfoy a disgusted look.

Fred and George had realized what Malfoy was talking about. Halfway through shaking Harry's hand they stiffened, looking around at Malfoy. Angelina, seeing the potential pasting that Fred was going to give Malfoy, grabbed him by the arm and proceeded to snog him, trying to take his mind of the blonde ponce.

"— but you like the Weasleys, don't you, Potter?" said Malfoy, sneering. "Spend holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles even the Weasleys' hovel smells okay —"

Harry looked around for not just Madam Hooch, but Susan. He saw Susan running down from where she and her friends were in the Hufflepuff stands, but Madam Hooch was still berating Crabbe for his illegal Bludger attack.

"Or perhaps," said Malfoy, leering as he backed away, "you can remember what your mother's house stank like, Potter, and Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it-"

Harry was not aware of releasing George, all he knew was that a second later both were sprinting at Malfoy. Forgetting the presence of Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape, who it seemed to Harry was just standing there, knowing that he would lose his temper, he drew back the fist clutching the Snitch and sank it as hard as he could into Malfoy's stomach.

"Harry! HARRY! GEORGE! NO!" He could hear girls' voices screaming, Malfoy yelling, George swearing, a whistle blowing, and the bellowing of the crowd around him, but he did not care, not until somebody in the vicinity yelled "IMPEDIMENTA!" and only when he was knocked over backward by the force of the spell did he abandon the attempt to punch every inch of Malfoy he could reach…

"What do you think you're doing?" screamed Madam Hooch, as Harry leapt to his feet again; it was she who had hit him with the Impediment Jinx. She was holding her whistle in one hand and a wand in the other, her broom lay abandoned several feet away. Malfoy was curled up on the ground, whimpering and moaning, his nose bloody.

George was sporting a swollen lip from the assault whereas Fred was sporting a swollen lip from his being forced to snog the captain, with Vincent Crabbe was cackling in the background.

"I've never seen behaviour like it!" Madam Hooch shouted, her wand still in her hand. "Get up to the castle, both of you, Now!"

Harry and George marched off the pitch, both panting, neither saying a word to each other. The howling and jeering of the crowd grew fainter and fainter until they reached the entrance hall, where they could hear nothing except the sound of their own footsteps. Harry became aware that something was still struggling in his right hand, the knuckles of which he had bruised against Malfoy's jaw; looking down he saw the Snitch's silver wings protruding from between his fingers, struggling for release.

They had barely reached the door of Professor McGonagall's office when she came marching along the corridor behind them. "In!"

She strode around behind her desk and faced them, quivering with rage as she threw a Gryffindor scarf that she was wearing onto the floor.

"Well?" she said. "Explain yourselves!"

"Malfoy provoked us," said Harry stiffly. "And you, along with that useless waste of grease and Dumbledore were just stood there watching us. And you wonder why no one comes to you Professor."

"Provoked you?" shouted Professor McGonagall, slamming a fist onto her desk so that her tartan biscuit tin slid sideways off it and burst open, littering the floor with Ginger Newts. "He'd just lost, hadn't he, of course he wanted to provoke you! You should have walked away and spoke to a professor. But instead of leaving it to Madam Hooch to sort out, you two decided to give an exhibition of Muggle duelling! Have you any idea what you've-?"

"Look, I'm sorry, satisfied?" Harry said, sarcastically. "I am completely fed up of the crap that I have to suffer in this place. I don't know why I bother coming to speak to a Professor when al I get told is to either keep my head down, get accused, or get a fraud like Lockhart try and obliviate me. Hell, even last year was a waste of time when I tell the Minister, the biggest figure in authority in the Wizarding World the truth over something I witness, and get called a liar."

Harry walked out of the office with his temper causing his magic to flare. He knew that he had to calm down, especially as he was about to go and see Susan. He just hoped that she didn't want to say that it was a one-time thing only, so he took several deep breaths, and headed to the Room of Requirements.

 **Room of Requirements, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**

 **21** **st** **October 1995**

As Harry arrived in the Room of Requirements, still wearing his Gryffindor Quidditch kit, having not changed, he had walked through the door when his lips were attacked by a pair of lips belonging to Susan Bones.

Leaning himself into the kiss, Harry remembered that he was lucky in more than one way, especially with the feelings he had for the redhead. ' _It is a good job that Susan is in love with me. I don't know what it would be like without her. I knew it was love I felt for her before the Third Task, and thank goodness for Sirius telling me that everything was true, and not a love potion induced feeling, especially after Vane tried to potion me last year!'_

Eventually the two of them had to come up for air, the need to breath vital having not mastered the skill of breathing through the nose whilst kissing, when Harry, having had Sirius for a godfather knew the one thing to say to Susan in this moment.

"It that is the level of kisses I am going to get all of the time Bones, then I might keep you around!"

Susan looked at him and giggled, knowing where the line had come from. She stopped giggling and smiled at Harry. "If Auntie Amelia heard you saying that, she would neuter Padfoot, especially with him in his Grim form!"

Harry looked at Susan in shock! ' _How does Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement, know about Sirius, and especially his Padfoot form_!'

"I know what you are thinking Harry, and I know how Auntie Amelia knows about Padfoot, or should I say Sirius Orion Black, the man who was to become my Uncle?" Susan asked, seeing the shocked look on Harry's face. "Auntie Amelia was engaged to Sirius when we were both infants, but then he got locked up on their wedding day. I know he was never the secret keeper to your parents, and I know Auntie Amelia hasn't seen her fiancé since before He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned."

"That's because Sirius is under a…Fidelius…Charm that the Headmaster cast." Harry said, admiring his beautiful redhead girlfriend. Suddenly he did a double take at the realisation that he had just made.

"Hang on…if your Aunt is the head of the DMLE, and because Sirius is innocent, how come he never got a trial, or even taken him into the Ministry for a trial?"

"Simple reason. Fudge and his cronies." Susan said, "Auntie hates the Minister as much as he hates her. Between him, Umbridge, Malfoy and the Headmaster, they managed to get it so she could have nothing to do with Sirius's case, citing conflicts of interests. She knew the truth about your parents, being close to them and Sirius, but Dumbledore said she was 'too emotionally involved.'"

"That…that bastard." Harry shouted, annoyed at what his girlfriend has said. "He…he knew that Sirius was innocent thanks to your aunt and he…he let Sirius almost die in Azkaban!"

As Harry sat down on a sofa that the Room of Requirement provided, Susan cuddling next to him, he knew that he needed to calm down again, especially as he had been only slightly calm before Susan snogging him, then his temper rising following the revelation about his godfather.

He knew he would write to Sirius later, but first the only thing Harry wanted to do was cuddle up to Susan, holding her in his arms, just letting the world go by.

Little did he know that he would be banned by Umbridge from ever playing Quidditch again, thanks to his argument with Malfoy, or that Hagrid had returned. Thank goodness that he had a ready-made excuse if and when Ron and Hermione would start asking him where he had been, all thanks to Susan and her Housemates in Hufflepuff.

-Dating Susan Bones-

 **A/N** – _Coming Up in Chapter 03_ _\- Hagrid is back and the four houses who have Care of Magical Creatures together have an interesting lesson…_

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the **Harry Potter series.** Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Social Media** You can now like " **GryffindorTom** " on Facebook and Twitter to get all the latest news, bits I'm working on, story updates and much more. You can also discuss this story and much, much more on Reddit - just navigate to r/ **GryffindorTomOfficial** on there.

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter

 **Status** WIP

 **Distribution** FFN, AO3, HP FanFic Archive, GryffindorTom Online

 **Story ID** **074**

 **Publish Date** **24/12/2016**


	3. 03 – Feelings and Hagrid

Title **Dating Susan Bones / / /** Rating **T**

Chapter **03 - Feelings and Hagrid**

Warnings **Contains some mild language and violence throughout.**

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _Previously on Dating Susan Bones…_

 _As Harry sat down on a sofa that the Room of Requirement provided, Susan cuddling next to him, he knew that he needed to calm down again, especially as he had been only slightly calm before Susan snogging him, then his temper rising following the revelation about his godfather._

 _He knew he would write to Sirius later, but first the only thing Harry wanted to do was cuddle up to Susan, holding her in his arms, just letting the world go by._

 _Little did he know that he would be banned by Umbridge from ever playing Quidditch again, thanks to his argument with Malfoy, or that Hagrid had returned. Thank goodness that he had a ready-made excuse if and when Ron and Hermione would start asking him where he had been, all thanks to Susan and her Housemates in Hufflepuff._

 _ **Room of Requirements, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **24th October 1995**_

The room was suddenly full of shouts of " _Stupefy_!", the stunning spell, causing people to fly in all directions, missed spells hit books on shelves and sent them flying into the air. Harry was too quick for Neville, who went spinning through the air, hitting the ceiling and landing with a clatter on top of a bookshelf, causing everyone to giggle out loud. Neville got up and approached the DA leader, ready to try again.

Glancing around he thought he had been right to suggest that they practice the basics first; there was a lot of shoddy spell work going on; many people were failing in their attempts at stunning their opponents at all, but merely causing them to jump backward a few paces or wince as the feeble spell whooshed over them.

" _Stupefy_!" said Neville, and Harry, caught unawares, feeling himself fly, hitting the floor, his sight turning to darkness.

"I DID IT!" said Neville gleefully. "I've never done it before — I DID IT!"

"Good one!" Hermione cheered her housemate encouragingly, deciding not to point out that in a real duel situation Neville's opponent was unlikely to be staring in the opposite direction. Reviving Harry, Hermione returned to her attempts with Ron, who was belittling her effort.

"Listen, Neville, can you take it in turns to practice with Ron and Hermione for a couple of minutes so I can walk around and see how the rest are doing?" Harry said as he got up, moving into the middle of the room. Something very odd was happening to Zacharias Smith; every time he opened his mouth to stun Anthony Goldstein, he would find himself being stunned, yet Anthony did not seem to be making a sound.

Harry did not have to look far for the solution of the mystery, however; Fred and George were several feet from Smith and taking it in turns to point their wands at his back.

"Couldn't resist . . ." Harry walked around the other pairs, trying to correct those who were doing the spell wrong. Ginny was teamed with Michael Corner; she was doing very well, whereas Michael was either very bad or unwilling to jinx her. Ernie Macmillan was flourishing his wand unnecessarily, giving his partner time to get in under his guard; the Creevey brothers were enthusiastic but erratic and mainly responsible for all the chaos that was being caused in the background.

Luna Lovegood was similarly patchy, occasionally sending Justin Finch-Fletchley flying, but at other times merely causing his hair to stand on end.

Pulling his whistle from his pocket and blowing it, everyone stopped. "That wasn't bad," said Harry, "but there's definite room for improvement."

Zacharias Smith glared at him. "Let's try again..."

He moved off around the room again, stopping here and there to make suggestions.

Suddenly he saw his girlfriend was struggling to cast the stunner at Cho Chang so he headed over to her and held her wrist, knowing that she was slightly off with her positioning for the stunner. Harry knew his girlfriend's motive, her taking the Chinese girl on as a punishment for the Ravenclaw Sixth Year making doe eyes at him, but didn't want to question her as he didn't want to be held responsible for her actions from the remainder of the DA.

As soon as Susan cast the stunner, Harry knew that he wanted to finish the session early, so blowing his whistle again, he closed the meeting, asking for Ernie, Susan, Hannah and Justin to stay behind.

He watched as Hermione walked over to him, giving him an inquisitive look. Knowing everyone was leaving, he took her to one side, intent on telling a lie to keep her from his true intentions.

"Hermione, I know it seems like I'm spending all of the time with the Hufﬂepuffs, and not with you and Ron, but they are helping me with a problem I have, a personal problem which I know if I asked Neville, he would have no idea, and Ron has the emotional range of a teaspoon, so I dare not ask him."

"Surely you could have asked me, Professor Dumbledore, or Professor Lupin about it?" Hermione asked, confused as to why she was being left out.

"I would have talked to Remus, but let's face it, when we were at…his home, he didn't want to talk about it" Harry replied, "Professor Dumbledore is too old, plus the advice I need is something I…something I just need to talk to someone else about."

"Why Harry?"

"Simple…Its…it's about…feelings." Harry said. "Feelings about someone close to me…someone who I totally and utterly am in love with."

"But why Hannah, Ernie, Justin and Susan?"

"Easy. Susan is dating someone in the DA, Hannah and Ernie are together and Justin is dating Katie Bell, you know, our housemate." Harry explained to the bushy haired girl, knowing that her mind would put two and two together and compute five. "That's why I think they are the most qualified to help give me advice."

"Oh."

Hermione left the Room of Requirements, leaving Harry with the four DA members in question.

"I liked how you were full of bollocks." Justin said as soon as Hermione had left the room. "We shall leave you and Susan to get up to whatever it is you two lovebirds get up to."

"And remember, no shagging yet…unless you want to get caught!" Hannah said, smiling. "Ernie and I are supposed to be on patrol in a bit so we won't find you, you crazy kids!"

As the trio of Hufﬂepuffs left the Room of Requirements, Harry stuck two fingers up at Justin, who responded back in kind, leaving Harry and Susan together.

 _ **Hagrid's Hut, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **24th October 1995**_

Professor Umbridge was smiling. She had, in her role as High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, a position given to her by Cornelius Fudge under Educational Decree Number 23, a decree which stated that Dolores Jane Umbridge has been appointed to the post of Hogwarts High Inquisitor. As part of her role, she had supreme authority over all punishments, sanctions and removal of privileges pertaining to the students of Hogwarts, and the power to inspect the lessons of her fellow staff members. This meant that she could inspect the first class back of the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, Rubeus Hagrid.

Having just viewed a Slytherin/Gryffindor Forth Year lesson, which they were studying a creature known as a Niffler, she was inspecting the Fifth Years Gryffindor/Hufflepuff lesson, which contained the person who, in her mind, was disrupting the efforts of her dear Cornelius to keep the Wizarding Worlds peace, Harry Potter.

Heading to Neville, she was having to suffer listening to that terrible half-breed grunt about Thestrals, a creature that she knew was not on the official Ministry approved syllabus until a person who took their Naturism Mastery.

Heading to Neville, who she knew was would be a nervous wreck if she talked to him, she made a toad like grin, which would remind Neville later of his toad, Trevor.

"You can see the Thestrals, Longbottom, can you?" she said.

Neville nodded.

"Whom did you see die?" she asked, her tone indifferent.

"My . . . my grandad," said Neville.

"And what do you think of them?" she said, waving her stubby hand at the horses, who by now had stripped a great deal of the carcass down to bone.

"Erm," said Neville nervously, with a glance at Hagrid. "Well, they're…erm…okay…"

"'Students…are…too…intimidated…to…admit…they…are…frightened…'" muttered Umbridge, making another note on her clipboard.

"No!" said Neville, looking upset, "no, I'm not scared of them…I…"

"It's quite all right," said Umbridge, patting Neville on the shoulder with what she evidently intended to be an understanding smile, though it looked more like a leer to Harry.

"Well, Hagrid," she turned to look up at him again, speaking once more in that loud, slow voice, "I think I've got enough to be getting along with. You will receive" — she mimed taking something from the air in front of her — "the results of your inspection" — she pointed at the clipboard — "in ten days' time." She held up ten stubby little fingers, then, her smile wider and more toad like than ever before beneath her green hat, she bustled from their midst, leaving Hermione shaking with fury and Neville confused and upset, with Harry swearing vengeance on the toad.

"That foul, lying, twisting old gargoyle!" stormed Hermione half an hour later, as they made their way back up to the castle through the channels they had made earlier in the snow. "You see what she's up to? It's her thing about half-breeds all over again! She's trying to make out Hagrid's some kind of dim-witted troll, just because he had a giantess for a mother — and oh, it's not fair, that really wasn't a bad lesson at all — I mean, all right, if it had been Blast-Ended Skrewts again, but Thestrals are fine — in fact, for Hagrid, they're really good!"

"Umbridge said they're dangerous," said Ron.

"Well, it's like Hagrid said, they can look after themselves," said Hermione impatiently, "and I suppose a teacher like Grubbly-Plank wouldn't usually show them to us before Mastery level, but, well, they are very interesting, aren't they? The way some people can see them and some can't! I wish I could."

"Do you?" Harry asked her quietly.

She looked horror-struck.

"Oh Harry — I'm sorry — no, of course I don't — that was a really stupid thing to say —"

"It's okay," he said quickly, "don't worry…"

"I'm surprised so many people could see them," said Ron. "Three in a class…"

Hearing Ron be so blasé about the situation, and by extension, his parent's death, and the deaths of relatives of his classmates, Harry walked off, frowning at how Ron was being.

"You have the emotional range of a teaspoon Ronald," Hermione said, frowning. Leaving the redhead, she decided to chase after Harry, so she could comfort him. Heading outside, she saw the raven haired teen helping Hagrid with the marshalling of a Niffler through the maze that Hagrid had set up for the next class he had, intent on testing the reactions of it.

' _I am going to kick Ronald's arse when I am next near him._ ' Hermione thought as she went back into the castle, aiming to speak to the Gryffindor Chasers. ' _I just hope Harry was talking about me when he said he was in love!'_

Little did she expect Harry to end up going to a broom closet with someone different to her, despite the dreams that she was going to have over the next few nights.

-Dating Susan Bones-

 **A/N** – _Coming Up in Chapter_ _04_ _-_ _Broom Closet Liaisons_

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the **Harry Potter series.** Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Social Media** You can now like " **GryffindorTom** " on Facebook and Twitter to get all of the latest news, bits I'm working on, story updates and much more. You can also discuss this story and much, much more on Reddit - just navigate to r/ **GryffindorTomOfficial** on there.

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter / / / **Status** WIP

 **Distribution** FFN, AO3, GryffindorTom Online

 **Story ID** **074 / / /** **Publish Date** **22/01/2017**


	4. 04 – Broom Closet Liaisons

Title **Dating Susan Bones / / /** Rating **M**

Chapter **04** **– Broom Closet Liaisons**

Warnings **Contains some mild language and violence throughout.** **This chapter contains some scenes of a sexual nature...**

This chapter contains some text from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _Previously on Dating Susan Bones…_

" _Well, it's like Hagrid said, they can look after themselves," said Hermione impatiently, "and I suppose a teacher like Grubbly-Plank wouldn't usually show them to us before Mastery level, but, well, they are very interesting, aren't they? The way some people can see them and some can't! I wish I could."_

" _Do you?" Harry asked her quietly._

 _She looked horror-struck._

" _Oh Harry — I'm sorry — no, of course I don't — that was a really stupid thing to say —"_

" _It's okay," he said quickly, "don't worry…"_

" _I'm surprised so many people could see them," said Ron. "Three in a class…"_

 _Hearing Ron be so blasé about the situation, and by extension, his parent's death, and the deaths of relatives of his classmates, Harry walked off, frowning at how Ron was being._

" _You have the emotional range of a teaspoon Ronald," Hermione said, frowning. Leaving the redhead, she decided to chase after Harry, so she could comfort him. Heading outside, she saw the raven haired teen helping Hagrid with the marshalling of a Niffler through the maze that Hagrid had set up for the next class he had, intent on testing the reactions of it._

' _I am going to kick Ronald's arse when I am next near him.' Hermione thought as she went back into the castle, aiming to speak to the Gryffindor Chasers. 'I just hope Harry was talking about me when he said he was in love!'_

 _Little did she expect Harry to end up going to a broom closet with someone different to her, despite the dreams that she was going to have over the next few nights._

 _ **Broom closet outside the Hufflepuff Common Room, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **30**_ _ **th**_ _ **October 1995**_

It had been nearly a week since Susan had last had some Harry time, some time for them to just be together. In that week she had noticed that he was extremely downcast, having had an argument with his friend, Ronald Weasley.

She had got her fellow housemates and friends, Hannah Abbott and Ernie MacMillan, who were the Fifth Year prefects for Hufflepuff House, to try to get her boyfriend back to her at all costs, even placing him in a fake detention with the two prefects if needs be!

Knowing that she would be seeing him soon, she headed to a nearby broom closet where she knew that her friends were going to 'deliver the package', or send Harry for his 'detention' with the niece of the Director of Magical Law Enforcement, and how she was going to 'enforce' him.

Hearing steps of three people nearby, she hid in the broom closet, her intentions being to surprise her boyfriend as soon as he came in, her plan being to near enough suck the tonsils out of him. She knew that one of her boyfriend's friends, Luna Lovegood, would no doubt describe it as 'inoculations against Nargles', or some weird thing like that, but she saw it as enjoying the time with her boyfriend.

Having decided to wear the lowest cut blouse that she owned, which her aunt was unaware of, just on the off chance that Harry just happened to 'accidentally cop a feel', the thought of a touch of his Quidditch toned muscles turning the shy Hufflepuff into a quivering mess just wanting him, she reached down to her clit, stroking it at the thought of him playing with her nipples and her stroking his member, which, if she would believe the rumours that had emanated from the Gryffindor Chasers, was a monster!.

As she was busy pleasuring herself, having had to sit on the stone floor in order to reach her core, she was unaware her skirt had ridden up, exposing her knickerless pussy to her best friend and her boyfriend as they had opened the broom closet door, resulting in Harry having to adjust his trousers to hide the bulge in them! Suddenly Susan climaxed, her juices squirting all over Harry, resulting in a massive wet patch over his shirt.

"I'll...I'll just go then" Hannah said, hoping her friend would notice her. She watched as Susan looked up, her face as red as her hair.

Harry, on the other hand, was trying to stifle a giggle over his girlfriend's facial reactions, quickly cleaning his shirt off from the enjoyment she had just had. "I didn't have you down for a squirter!"

Watching Susan as she threw a scrunched up piece of parchment at him, Harry knew that Susan was crazy about him!

 _ **Gryffindor Common Room, Gryffindor Tower, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **4**_ _ **th**_ _ **December 1995**_

The whole of November had flew by for Harry, with a visit to the charming village of Hogsmeade, the second this term, being allowed for the students of Hogwarts. Both Harry and Susan, despite their relationship blossoming, had agreed that they would spend the visit with their respective friends.

Although as Harry had started to spend more time with the duo of Ron and Hermione, he had, inadvertently mind you, started to lead Hermione to think that he was in love with her, even though she was unaware that he was in fact dating the delectable Susan Bones.

As Hermione ploughed her way to Hagrid's cabin through two feet of snow on a really cold Sunday morning, she knew that Harry and Ron wanted to go with her, but their mountain of homework had reached an alarming height again, so they grudgingly remained in the common room, trying to ignore the gleeful shouts drifting up from the grounds outside, where students were enjoying themselves skating on the frozen lake, tobogganing, and worst of all, bewitching snowballs to zoom up to Gryffindor Tower and come through to the Common Room.

Hermione had taken it upon herself to prepare for Hagrid a series of lesson plans, despite his reluctance to use them in the past, of topics that were more appropriate to their age, and not creatures like Blast Ended Skrewts, Basilisks and Hippogriffs (Ron being the one to suggest a Basilisk as a future Hagrid designed lesson, saying that they were "seriously misunderstood creatures" in the earshot of Ginny, who had ran to Neville for comfort, still having memories of her First Year and Tom Riddle's diary.)

"Oi!" bellowed Ron, finally losing patience because of a snowball being forced though the window of the Common Room, him subsequently sticking his head out of the window and yelling, "I am a prefect and if one more snowball goes through this window-"

He withdrew his head sharply, his face covered in snow. Harry looked out of the window to see Susan Bones smiling at him, blowing him a kiss. He also had the shock of Third Year Romilda Vane, who had tried to potion him last year but with her efforts failing thanks to a prank by the Weasley twins as Seamus being the unlucky one instead, taking off her shirt, showing him her uncovered breasts. ' _I really must Obliviate that from my mind!'_

"It's Fred and George doing it" Harry said, smiling behind his best friends back, slamming the window behind him to close it. "You must admit, they have style!"

Hermione returned from Hagrid's just before lunch, shivering slightly, her robes damp to the knees.

"So?" said Ron, looking up when she entered. "Got all his lessons planned for him?"

"Well, I tried," she said dully, sinking into a chair beside Harry. She pulled out her wand and gave it a complicated little wave so that hot air streamed out of the tip; she then pointed it at her wet shirt, which Harry could see the outline of her black lace bra through. "He wasn't even there when I arrived, I was knocking for at least half an hour. And then he came stumping out of the forest, completely bloody."

Harry groaned as he knew from personal experience that the Forbidden Forest was teeming with the kind of creatures, such as Aragog, an Acromantula, which would most likely to get Hagrid the sack.

"What's he keeping in there? Did he say?" asked Harry.

"No," said Hermione miserably. "He says he wants them to be a surprise, especially after the Inspection that he had. I tried to explain about Umbridge, and how she had sacked Trelawney, but he just doesn't get it. He kept saying that he would rather have us study a Chimera as opposed to a Knarl, especially as that's what he had 'learnt from the greatest person ever, Newt Scamander!'"

Both Harry and Ron had the look that was ' _Oh shit, he has got a chimaera_!', tuning out of what Hermione was saying for a minute as they acknowledged etch other's thoughts.

"On the other hand, however, he did say to me about how hard it is to get eggs. I don't know how many times I told him he'd be better off following mine or Professor Grubbly-Plank's plan but I honestly don't think he listened to half of what I said. He's in a bit of a funny mood, you know and he won't say how he got all those injuries, even to Professor Dumbledore."

Some, like Harry would admit that he included himself in the statement knew that many of them preferred Professor Grubby-Plank's lessons, or even would prefer the lessons that Hermione had planned, and the worst of it was that a very small, unbiased part of him knew that they had good reason, despite the friendliness of the half-giant, and that was that Grubbly-Plank's idea of an interesting class was not one where there was a risk that somebody might have their head ripped off!

Harry just hoped that nothing would go wrong now the Gamekeeper was on suspension, but little would he realise there was one other threat in the way, one that would affect his relationship, the threat of the former girlfriend of Cedric Diggory...

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _Coming Up in Chapter_ _05_ _\- Cho Chang interferes..._

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the **Harry Potter series.** Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Social Media** You can now like " **GryffindorTom** " on Facebook and Twitter to get all of the latest news, bits I'm working on, story updates and much more. You can also discuss this story and much, much more on Reddit - just navigate to r/ **GryffindorTomOfficial** on there.

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter / / / **Status** WIP

 **Distribution** FFN, AO3, GryffindorTom Online

 **Story ID** **074 / / /** **Publish Date** **13** **/02/2017**


	5. 05 - Cho

Title **Dating Susan Bones / / /** Rating **M**

Chapter **05 - Cho**

Warnings **Contains some mild language and violence throughout.**

This chapter contains some text from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _Previously on Dating Susan Bones..._

 _"On the other hand, however, he did say to me about how hard it is to get eggs. I don't know how many times I told him he'd be better off following mine or Professor Grubbly-Plank's plan but I honestly don't think he listened to half of what I said. He's in a bit of a funny mood, you know and he won't say how he got all those injuries, even to Professor Dumbledore."_

 _Some, like Harry would admit that he included himself in the statement knew that many of them preferred Professor Grubby-Plank's lessons, or even would prefer the lessons that Hermione had planned, and the worst of it was that a very small, unbiased part of him knew that they had good reason, despite the friendliness of the half-giant, and that was that Grubbly-Plank's idea of an interesting class was not one where there was a risk that somebody might have their head ripped off!_

 _Harry just hoped that nothing would go wrong now the Gamekeeper was on suspension, but little would he realise there was one other threat in the way, one that would affect his relationship, the threat of the former girlfriend of Cedric Diggory..._

 _ **Room of Requirements, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **18**_ _ **th**_ _ **December 1995**_

It was the middle of December, and with it came more snow and a positive avalanche of homework for the fifth years. Ron and Hermione's prefect duties also became more and more onerous as Christmas approached. They were called upon to supervise the decoration of the castle, to watch over first and second years spending their break times inside because of the bitter cold, and to patrol the corridors in shifts with Argus Filch, who suspected that the holiday spirit might show itself in an outbreak of wizard duels.

During those patrols, Harry and Susan managed to spend a significant amount of time together, their chance for improving their relationship by getting to know each other more increasing. One of the things Harry did find out was that Susan was often a visitor to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and had already met Nymphadora Tonks, who was the cousin of his godfather, Sirius Black.

It was the day of a meeting of the DA and Harry had arrived early in the Room of Requirement for the last meeting before the holidays. He was very glad he had, because when the lamps burst into light he saw that Dobby had taken it upon himself to decorate the place for Christmas.

He could tell the elf had done it, because nobody else would have strung a hundred golden baubles from the ceiling, each showing a picture of Harry's face and bearing the legend HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS!

As Harry was about to get them down, he saw his girlfriend, Susan, enter the room and kiss him firmly on the lips. "Hey Susan. It's good-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, his lips were covered again by the sweet taste of the strawberry lipstick that Susan had decided to wear, the taste intoxicating him as he moved in closer for a third round when suddenly they were interrupted by Hannah Abbott, making a cough as though she were Professor Umbridge.

"Please, don't mind me!" the blonde Hufflepuff said, laughing at how quick they had separated. "It's just that the rest of the DA are about to come and I know you don't want Granger or Weasley to get the right idea!"

Suddenly Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw Forth Year, entered the Room of Requirements, looking dreamy as always. "Hello," she said vaguely, looking around at what remained of the decorations. "These are nice, did you put them up?"

"No," said Harry, "it was Dobby the house-elf."

"I spy some Mistletoe," said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clump of white berries placed almost over Harry's head. He jumped out from under it. "Good thinking," said Luna very seriously. "It's often infested with Nargles."

Harry looked at Susan in concern, Susan shrugging her shoulders back, not knowing what a Nargle was. Suddenly the redhead frowned as she saw Cho Chang, the person who she knew to be a right pain in the arse over her want for Harry enter the Room.

The arrival of Ron, Hermione, and Neville, who was holding the hand of Ginny Weasley, brought any small talk to an end and within five minutes, the room was full enough to prevent him seeing Susan's annoyed looks at the Chinese girl as he had mingled around the room.

"Okay," he said, calling them all to order. "I thought this evening we should just go over the things we've done so far, because it's the last meeting before the holidays and there's no point starting anything new right before a three-week break —"

"We're not doing anything new?" said Zacharias Smith, in a disgruntled whisper loud enough to carry through the room. "If I'd known that, I wouldn't have come."

"We're all really sorry Harry didn't tell you, then," said Fred loudly. Several people sniggered at what the prankster had said, Fred's face lighting up at the recognition of the sarcasm.

Harry saw Susan smile and wink at him, that smile and wink causing him to do something that he had wanted to do for ages, and set his Patronus free.

"Expecto Patronus"

Everyone was shocked at the positive energy coming from the Patronus, which to Harry's glee had made everyone become in glee over the positive energy.

"Right, as I said, we will be practicing some of our earlier spells again and we will practice in pairs," said Harry. "We'll start with the Impediment Jinx, just for ten minutes, then we can get out the cushions and try Stunning again."

They all divided up obediently with Harry acting as a partner for his fellow Gryffindor, Neville, as usual. The room was soon full of intermittent cries of "Impedimenta" with people freezing for a minute or so, during which their partners would stare aimlessly around the room watching other pairs at work, then would unfreeze and take their turn at the jinx.

Harry could honestly say that because of the DA, Neville had improved beyond all recognition in not just his shyness, but also his spellcasting, which was on a par with his own on occasion.

After a while, when Harry had unfrozen three times in a row, he had Neville join Ron and Hermione again so that he could walk around the room and watch the others. When he passed Susan, who was giving it her all against Cho Chang, he whispered a Disarming Charm behind the Chinese girl's back, subsequently blaming it on the Weasley twins who were right behind her, knowing that they would have likely pulled a prank on someone in the DA as they do every session.

After ten minutes on the Impediment Jinx, they laid out cushions all over the floor and started practicing Stunning again. Space was really confined to allow them all to work this spell at once; half the group observed the others for a while, then swapped over.

Harry felt himself positively swelling with pride as he watched them all. True, Neville did Stun Padma Patil rather than Dean, at whom he had been aiming, but it was a much closer miss than usual, and everybody else had made enormous progress.

At the end of an hour, Harry called a halt, announcing some of his plans for future sessions of the DA. "When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff — maybe even the Patronus Charm."

There was a murmur of excitement. The room began to clear in the usual twos and threes; most people wished Harry a Happy Christmas as they went. Feeling cheerful, he collected up the cushions with Ron and Hermione and stacked them neatly away.

Hannah and Ernie, as prefects who worked alongside Ron and Hermione, managed to make the two Gryffindor Prefects leave before he did as they allowed him to hang back a little, mainly because Susan was still there and he was hoping to receive a Merry Christmas from her.

Suddenly he was turned around as he came face to face with Cho Chang, tears pouring down her face.

"What?"

He didn't know what to do. She was simply standing there, crying silently.

"What's up?" he said feebly.

She shook her head and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I'm sorry," she said thickly. "I suppose…it's just…learning all this stuff…It just makes me…wonder whether…if he'd known it all…he'd still be alive…"

"He did know this stuff," Harry said heavily, knowing that the Chinese teen wanted to talk about her late boyfriend. He just hoped that Susan could get her out of the way as he was starting to feel uncomfortable. "He was really good at it, or he could never have got to the middle of that maze. But if Voldemort really wants to kill you, you don't stand a chance."

He could not think. A tingling sensation was spreading throughout him, paralyzing his arms, legs, and brain. She was much too close, even though she was within the sight of his girlfriend, who Harry could see was glaring daggers at her.

Harry could see every tear clinging to her eyelashes when suddenly she kissed him. He tried pushing her back but he could not do anything as she was holding him closer to her.

"GET OFF MY BOYFRIEND YOU TART!" Susan shouted at the Ravenclaw, turning her around and slapping her. Getting in her face, Susan was about to threaten her when Harry had a brainwave.

"Wait…Susan…instead of having a go at her, maybe we could use her to hide the fact that we're dating by me pretending to be with her."

"How do you mean?"

Harry explained his plan to the two girls, which upon the full explanation, Susan agreed to, wondering how her boyfriend could be so cunning as to find an additional way to hide their relationship.

The trio split apart, heading out of the Room of Requirement, having arranged for Harry to have been shocked at Cho's kiss, with the outward hints that he was interested in another witch, even though he was in a relationship with Susan. Little did he expect the argument from Ron and Hermione that he would end up in shortly…

 _ **Gryffindor Common Room, Gryffindor Tower, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **18**_ _ **th**_ _ **December 1995**_

Harry had returned to the Gryffindor Common Room to find that Hermione was writing a very long letter; she had already filled half a roll of parchment in her endeavours. Ron, on the other hand, was lying on the hearthrug, trying to finish his Transfiguration homework.

He explained to Ron and Hermione, who had asked why he had been ages, that he had been cornered by Cho Chang, who had kissed him, with his feeling of repulsion over the kiss. Hermione, upon hearing this was tempted to kill the older witch, but she knew that, deep down, Harry would not appreciate this.

As she continued to write her letter, she was shocked as to what Ron said to her.

"Who're you writing the novel to?" Ron asked, trying to read the bit of parchment now trailing on the floor. Hermione hitched it up out of sight.

"Viktor."

"Krum?"

"How many other Viktors do we know?"

"I bet you've slept with the bastard." Ron said, knowing that she had not, all thanks to the Headmaster and his mother putting something in place, something that she did not know about.

"No! Viktor and I are friends. He has been helping me and Harry with the DA." Hermione said, muttering something else under her breath. "You are the most insensitive wart I have ever had the misfortune to meet."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Ron indignantly.

"You assume that because I have been writing to Viktor, just like Harry has, means that I am shagging him. We are just good friends." said Hermione nastily, picking up her quill again. "Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have."

"Well, goodnight Harry, Ronald." said Hermione, yawning widely, and she set off up the girls' staircase, knowing that her thoughts about Harry and how much she still had feelings for him, hoping that she would be able to find herself having a pleasant dream.

"What does she see in Krum?" Ron demanded as he and Harry climbed the boys' stairs.

"Nothing, apart from him being as good as I am, if not better, at DADA." Harry said, knowing that he was telling the truth to the redhead.

"Yeah, but apart from that," said Ron, sounding aggravated. "I mean he's a grouchy git, isn't he?"

"Bit grouchy, yeah," said Harry, whose thoughts were still on his plan with Susan and Cho. Little did he realise that his night would be the worst one ever…

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _Coming Up in Chapter 06- Harry and Sirius discuss Bones women..._

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the **Harry Potter series.** Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Social Media** You can now like " **GryffindorTom** " on Facebook and Twitter to get all the latest news, bits I'm working on, story updates and much more. You can also discuss this story and much, much more on Reddit - just navigate to r/ **GryffindorTomOfficial** on there.

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter / / / **Status** WIP

 **Distribution** FFN, AO3, GryffindorTom Online

 **Story ID 074 / / / Publish Date 02/03/2017**


	6. 06 – Bones Women

Title **Dating Susan Bones / / /** Rating **M**

Chapter **06 – Bones Women**

Warnings **Contains some mild language and violence throughout.**

This chapter contains some text from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _Previously on Dating Susan Bones..._

" _You assume that because I have been writing to Viktor, just like Harry has, means that I am shagging him. We are just good friends." said Hermione nastily, picking up her quill again. "Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have."_

" _Well, goodnight Harry, Ronald." said Hermione, yawning widely, and she set off up the girls' staircase, knowing that her thoughts about Harry and how much she still had feelings for him, hoping that she would be able to find herself having a pleasant dream._

" _What does she see in Krum?" Ron demanded as he and Harry climbed the boys' stairs._

" _Nothing, apart from him being as good as I am, if not better, at DADA." Harry said, knowing that he was telling the truth to the redhead._

" _Yeah, but apart from that," said Ron, sounding aggravated. "I mean he's a grouchy git, isn't he?"_

" _Bit grouchy, yeah," said Harry, whose thoughts were still on his plan with Susan and Cho. Little did he realise that his night would be the worst one ever…_

 _ **Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London, England**_

 _ **25**_ _ **th**_ _ **December 1995**_

Harry had been right in his assessment over the fact that he would not be having much sleep, having had a vision that he was a snake which had attacked Arthur Weasley, the father of his best friend Ron.

He remembered being woken up by Ron, being completely scared of what had happened, how he had told Professor McGonagall what had happened, how they had passed Mrs Norris in the corridor to the Headmaster's office, how the caretakers cat had turned her lamp like eyes upon them and hissed faintly, leaving the area when Professor McGonagall had shooed her away, the walk to the Headmaster's office, the way they had only just managed to avoid the Ministry stooge, Delores Umbridge.

Harry remembered the headmaster was not looking at him, but examining his own interlocked fingers, the argument he had, the disagreement and misunderstanding over how he had witnessed the scene in the vision.

Then there was the memory of Dumbledore and how he had addressed one of the old portraits hanging very near the ceiling, calling the portraits of a sallow-faced wizard with short, black bangs and an elderly witch with long silver ringlets in the frame beside him, both of whom seemed to have been in the deepest of sleeps and how there were many of the other headmasters and mistresses on the walls, though snoring and drooling most convincingly, kept sneaking peeks at him under their eyelids, and he suddenly understood who had been talking when they had knocked, help eventually coming for the fallen man.

Eventually they were sent to Grimmauld Place, Harry hiding his mental anger at not being able to even say goodbye to Susan, not being able to travel on the Hogwarts Express, but instead sent by Portkey, a method of transport that he did not enjoy at all.

On the other hand, he was happy that he had been able to see his godfather, Sirius, especially as he had remembered how he had been told by Malfoy that the Grim animagus had been seen by his father on Platform 9¾. Harry didn't want his godfather to be caught by the Death Eater, so warned Sirius not to come with him next time to the platform.

Sirius, along with Bill Weasley, who had been in the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix at the time, after a cup of tea, ordered everyone to bed, them all having a busy day ahead of them.

Everyone but Harry spent the rest of the morning sleeping. He went up to the bedroom he had shared with Ron over the summer, but while Ron crawled into bed and was asleep within minutes, Harry sat fully clothed, hunched against the cold metal bars of the bedstead, keeping himself deliberately uncomfortable, determined not to fall into a doze, terrified that he might become the serpent again in his sleep and awake to find that he had attacked Ron, or else slithered through the house after one of the others.

When Ron woke up, Harry pretended to have enjoyed a refreshing nap too. Their trunks arrived from Hogwarts while they were eating lunch, so that they could dress as Muggles for the trip to St. Mungo's. Everybody except Harry was riotously happy and talkative as they changed out of their robes into jeans and sweatshirts, and they greeted Tonks and Mad-Eye, who had turned up to escort them across London, gleefully laughing at the bowler hat Mad-Eye was wearing at an angle to conceal his magical eye and assuring him, truthfully, that Tonks, whose hair was short and bright pink again, would attract far less attention on the underground.

Tonks was very interested in Harry's vision of the attack on Mr. Weasley, something he was not remotely interested in discussing at the time, however, as he was still feeling depressed about it.

When they arrived at St Mungo's, they found out that Mr Weasley was on the Dai Llewellyn Ward for Serious Bites, a sign underneath saying who the Healer-in-Charge and Trainee Healer were for the department.

There were only three patients in the ward with Mr Weasley occupying the bed at the far end of the ward beside the tiny window. Harry was pleased and relieved to see that he was propped up on several pillows and reading the _Daily Prophet_ by the solitary ray of sunlight falling onto his bed.

Harry left as Moody and Mrs Weasley wanted to talk to Mr Weasley and afterwards, He felt dirty, contaminated, as though he were carrying some deadly germ, unworthy to sit on the underground train back from the hospital with innocent, clean people whose minds and bodies were free of the taint of Voldemort. He had not merely seen the snake, he had been the snake, he knew it now!

It was then that a truly terrible thought occurred to him, a memory bobbing to the surface of his mind, one that made his insides writhe and squirm like serpents…

He thought that he was the weapon. It had taken a serious amount of persuading by both Sirius and Hermione, who had come to Grimmauld Place, for him to stop this line of thought.

He was drawn out of his thoughts when he saw Sirius emerging from the pantry carrying a large turkey as they closed the cupboard door, "Has anyone actually seen Kreacher lately?"

"I haven't seen him since the night we came back here," said Harry. "You were ordering him out of the kitchen."

"Yeah…" replied Sirius, frowning. "You know, I think that's the last time I saw him, too. He must be hiding upstairs somewhere."

"He couldn't have left, could he?" said Harry. "I mean, when you said 'out,' maybe he thought you meant, get out of the house?"

"No, no, house-elves can't leave unless they're given clothes, they're tied to their family's house," said Sirius.

"They can leave the house if they really want to," Harry contradicted him. "Dobby did, he left the Malfoys' to give me warnings two years ago. He had to punish himself afterward, but he still managed it."

Sirius looked slightly disconcerted for a moment, then said, "I'll look for him later, I expect I'll find him upstairs crying his eyes out over my mother's old bloomers or something. Of course, he might have crawled into the airing cupboard and died, but there again I mustn't get my hopes up!"

Fred, George, and Ron laughed; Hermione, however, looked reproachful.

Once they had had their Christmas lunch, the Weasleys and Hermione were planning to pay Mr. Weasley another visit, escorted by Mad-Eye and Lupin. Mundungus turned up in time for Christmas pudding and trifle, having managed to "borrow" a car for the occasion, as the Underground did not run on Christmas Day.

The car, which Harry doubted very much had been taken with the knowledge or consent of its owner, had had a similar Enlarging Spell put upon it as the Weasleys' old Ford Anglia; although normally proportioned outside, ten people with Mundungus driving were able to fit into it quite comfortably.

Mrs. Weasley hesitated at the point of getting inside; Harry knew that her disapproval of Mundungus was battling with her dislike of traveling without magic; finally, the cold outside and her children's pleading triumphed, and she settled herself into the backseat between Fred and Bill with good grace.

Harry had declined the visit to St Mungo's, citing that he wanted to speak to his godfather about some personal stuff, knowing that he did not want to be interrupted whilst he talked to Sirius.

"Sirius. I...I need your advice. You see I'm dating this girl-"

"You've got a girlfriend kiddo? Is she a redhead like your mom and grandmother?" Sirius said, interrupting. Seeing the reaction on his godson when he asked Harry told him everything. "What's her name?

"Susan...Susan Bones."

"As in 'Mia's niece Susan?" Sirius asked, shocked at the revelation that his godson had made. "As in the little girl who used to play with you as a kid before your parents died."

"Yes Sirius, as in the niece of Madam Bones, head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement and your fiancé."

"Shit. I...I need to head over to...Bones Manor. I never told Amelia about Peter."

"As in how she knows Wormtail is the traitor and you're innocent, how you got locked up on your wedding day because of that rat."

"Hang on…if Amelia is the head of the DMLE, and because I am innocent, how come I never got a trial under her leadership, or got taken me into the Ministry for a Pardon?"

"Simple reason. Fudge and his cronies." Harry said "Susan says that Madam Bones hates the Minister as much as he hates her. Between him, Umbridge, Malfoy and the Headmaster, they managed to get it so she could have nothing to do with Sirius's case, citing conflicts of interests. She knew the truth about mom and dad, same with your Animagus form, but Dumbledore said she was 'too emotionally involved' when it came to getting a trial for you"

"That…that bastard." Sirius shouted, annoyed at what his godson has said. "He…he knows that I am innocent and he…he let me almost die in Azkaban! I am going to wrap his beard around his neck next time I see him!"

Sirius suddenly headed to the Floo and called out Bones Manor, a teary reunion with Amelia Bones awaiting him, albeit just the two of them being present at Bones Manor, Susan being over the house of Hannah Abbott. Little did Harry realise, however, that his spring term at Hogwarts could end up being one where he had something discovered…

…and he still never got his advice!

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _Coming Up in Chapter 07 – A Time Skip….and something is discovered…_

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the **Harry Potter series.** Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Social Media** You can now like " **GryffindorTom** " on Facebook and Twitter to get all the latest news, bits I'm working on, story updates and much more. You can also discuss this story and much, much more on Reddit - just navigate to r/ **GryffindorTomOfficial** on there.

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter / / / **Status** WIP

 **Distribution** FFN, AO3, GryffindorTom Online

 **Story ID 074 / / / Publish Date 02/03/2017**


	7. 07 - DA Discovered

Title **Dating Susan Bones / / /** Rating **M**

Chapter **07 - DA Discovered**

Warnings **Contains some mild language and violence throughout.**

This chapter contains some text from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _Previously on Dating Susan Bones..._

 _"_ _Sirius. I...I need your advice. You see I'm dating this girl-"_

 _"_ _You've got a girlfriend kiddo? Is she a redhead like your mom and grandmother?" Sirius said, interrupting. Seeing the reaction on his godson when he asked Harry told him everything. "What's her name?_

 _"_ _Susan...Susan Bones."_

 _"_ _As in 'Mia's niece Susan?" Sirius asked, shocked at the revelation that his godson had made. "As in the little girl who used to play with you as a kid before your parents died."_

 _"_ _Yes Sirius, as in the niece of Madam Bones, head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement and your fiancé."_

 _"_ _Shit. I...I need to head over to...Bones Manor. I never told Amelia about Peter."_

 _"_ _As in how she knows Wormtail is the traitor and you're innocent, how you got locked up on your wedding day because of that rat."_

 _"Hang on…if Amelia is the head of the DMLE, and because I am innocent, how come I never got a trial under her leadership, or got taken me into the Ministry for a Pardon?"_

 _"Simple reason. Fudge and his cronies." Harry said "Susan says that Madam Bones hates the Minister as much as he hates her. Between him, Umbridge, Malfoy and the Headmaster, they managed to get it so she could have nothing to do with Sirius's case, citing conflicts of interests. She knew the truth about mom and dad, same with your Animagus form, but Dumbledore said she was 'too emotionally involved' when it came to getting a trial for you"_

 _"That…that bastard." Sirius shouted, annoyed at what his godson has said. "He…he knows that I am innocent and he…he let me almost die in Azkaban! I am going to wrap his beard around his neck next time I see him!"_

 _Sirius suddenly headed to the Floo and called out Bones Manor, a teary reunion with Amelia Bones awaiting him, albeit just the two of them being present at Bones Manor, Susan being over the house of Hannah Abbott. Little did Harry realise, however, that his spring term at Hogwarts could end up being one where he had something discovered…_

 _…_ _and he still never got his advice!_

 ** _Room of Requirements, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland_**

 ** _15_** ** _th_** ** _March 1996_**

It had mainly been a quiet three months for Harry and Susan, with a visit to Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day proving really successful as the couple had managed to spend the majority of the trip together, with Cho providing a distraction to the Gryffindor students in Harry's year, so they would not suspect that Harry was dating Susan.

He had been forced to, however, undertake a weekly lesson on Occlumency, the lesson being presented by the Potions Master of Hogwarts, Professor Snape. The lessons that he had attended were torture for Harry, a torture that he did not want, especially with trying to keep his relationship with Susan under wraps and also the DA.

The day after the first lesson of Occlumency, a notice appeared on the wall outside of the Great Hall.

' _By Order of The High Inquisitor of Hogwarts_

 _Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach._

 _The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-six._

 _Signed_

 _Delores Jane Umbridge:_

 _High Inquisitor'_

This latest decree had been the subject of a great number of jokes among the students. Lee Jordan had pointed out to Umbridge that by the terms of the new rule she was not allowed to tell Fred and George off for playing Exploding Snap in the back of the class.

"Exploding Snap's got nothing to do with Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor! That's not information relating to your subject!"

When Harry next saw Lee, the back of his hand was bleeding rather badly. Harry recommended essence of murtlap.

A few weeks later, an article had come out in _The Quibbler,_ which had made several disparaging marks over both Umbridge and Minister Fudge, this was including a small section of an alleged conversation between Minister for Magic Fudge and his Junior Undersecretary, Percy Weasley, in which he had allegedly advocated use of a Blood Quill on several targets, including the daughter of the Editor in Chief of _The Quibbler._

The following day another Educational Decree had graced the walls of Hogwarts, one that had resulted in an increase in sales for _The Quibbler_ …

' _By Order of The High Inquisitor of Hogwarts_

 _Any student found in possession of the magazine The Quibbler will be expelled._

 _The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-seven._

 _Signed_

 _Delores Jane Umbridge:_

 _High Inquisitor'_

Harry sometimes wondered how Umbridge was going to react when all the members of the D.A. received "Outstanding" in their Defence Against the Dark Arts OWLs. It was the day of a meeting of the DA and he was nervous. Harry had heard from a couple of people that there was whispers of a potential sneak in the group.

As a precaution, mainly as he did not want Susan to be caught by Umbridge as he knew that Umbridge would have her aunt's job taken away, his memory of Madam Bones being one of her being fair in the trial that he had undergone at the hands of Cornelius Fudge, yet he would no doubt not receive that from whoever was to succeed her, he told Susan that he would see her probably about what he had planned for the DA, a session on Patroni.

Giving her a one to one session the day before the meeting, he was shocked when he found out that her Patronus matched his, as in her Doe was the mate of his stag.

Leaving his girlfriend in order to attend the session of the DA, Harry's bad feeling about this specific meeting was increasing, although he was trying to keep a face of calmness, a face that no one would suspect anything with go wrong.

Instead, however, go wrong, as it turned out that a girl named Marietta Edgecombe, a friend of Cho's, had gone to the High Inquisitor about the DA being an illegal study group. Fortunately for the DA, Cho had told him just as she had mentioned it to him as she entered the Room of Requirements.

Harry ordered everyone to run, knows that it wouldn't be long before the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic and her cronies, the Inquisitorial Squad, would be after them.

As he ran from the Room of Requirement, intent on heading to the boy's bathroom when he was suddenly caught by surprise.

"AAARGH!"

Something caught him around the ankles and he fell spectacularly, skidding along on his front for six feet before coming to a halt. Someone behind him was laughing. He rolled over onto his back and saw Malfoy concealed in a niche beneath an ugly dragon-shaped vase.

"Trip Jinx, Potter!" he said. "Hey, Professor — PROFESSOR! I've got one!"

Umbridge came bustling around the far corner, breathless but wearing a delighted smile.

"It's him!" she said jubilantly at the sight of Harry on the floor. "Excellent, Draco, excellent, oh, very good. You may take a total fifty points to Slytherin for your actions! I'll take him from here. Stand up, Potter!"

Harry got to his feet, glaring at the pair of them. He had never seen Umbridge looking so happy. She seized his arm in a vicelike grip and turned, beaming broadly, to Malfoy. "You hop along and see if you can round up any more of them, Draco," she said. "Tell the others to look in the library for anybody out of breath. That includes the bathrooms, Mr Malfoy. You can get your friend Miss Parkinson to do the girls' ones."

Turning to Harry, Professor Umbridge knew that she had the guilty party. "You can come with me to the headmaster's office, Potter."

They were at the stone gargoyle within minutes. Harry wondered how many of the others had been caught. He thought of Ron as he knew that Mrs Weasley would kill him, and he thought of how Hermione would feel if she was expelled before she could take her OWLs. And it had been Seamus's very first meeting of the DA, and Neville had been getting so good...

"Fizzing Whizbee," sang Umbridge, and the stone gargoyle jumped aside, the wall behind split open, and they ascended the moving stone staircase.

They reached the polished door with the griffin knocker, but Umbridge did not bother to knock, she strode straight inside, still holding tight to Harry.

The office was full of people. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, his expression serene, the tips of his long fingers together. Professor McGonagall stood rigidly beside him, her face extremely tense. Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, was rocking backward and forward on his toes beside the fire, apparently immensely pleased with the situation.

Kingsley Shacklebolt, along with a tough-looking wizard Harry did not recognize with very short, wiry hair were positioned on either side of the door like guards, and the freckled, bespectacled form of Percy Weasley hovered excitedly beside the wall, a quill and a heavy scroll of parchment in his hands, apparently poised to take notes.

The portraits of old headmasters and mistresses were not doing their impression of sleep tonight. All of them were watching what was happening below, alert and serious. As Harry entered, a few flitted into neighbouring frames and whispered urgently into their neighbour's ears.

Harry pulled himself free of Umbridge's grasp as the door swung shut behind them. Cornelius Fudge was glaring at him with a kind of vicious satisfaction upon his face.

"Well," he said. "Well, well, well..."

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _Coming Up in Chapter 08 – The run up to the OWLs…_

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the **Harry Potter series.** Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Social Media** You can now like " **GryffindorTom** " on Facebook and Twitter to get all the latest news, bits I'm working on, story updates and much more. You can also discuss this story and much, much more on Reddit - just navigate to r/ **GryffindorTomOfficial** on there.

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter / / / **Status** WIP

 **Distribution** FFN, AO3, GryffindorTom Online

 **Story ID 074 / / / Publish Date 04/03/2017**


	8. 08 - Exams Run Up

Title **Dating Susan Bones / / /** Rating **M**

Chapter **08 - Exams Run Up**

Warnings **Contains some mild language and violence throughout.**

This chapter contains some text from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _Previously on Dating Susan Bones..._

" _You can come with me to the headmaster's office, Potter."_

 _They were at the stone gargoyle within minutes. Harry wondered how many of the others had been caught. He thought of Ron as he knew that Mrs Weasley would kill him, and he thought of how Hermione would feel if she was expelled before she could take her OWLs. And it had been Seamus's very first meeting of the DA, and Neville had been getting so good..._

" _Fizzing Whizbee," sang Umbridge, and the stone gargoyle jumped aside, the wall behind split open, and they ascended the moving stone staircase._

 _They reached the polished door with the griffin knocker, but Umbridge did not bother to knock, she strode straight inside, still holding tight to Harry._

 _The office was full of people. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, his expression serene, the tips of his long fingers together. Professor McGonagall stood rigidly beside him, her face extremely tense. Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, was rocking backward and forward on his toes beside the fire, apparently immensely pleased with the situation._

 _Kingsley Shacklebolt, along with a tough-looking wizard Harry did not recognize with very short, wiry hair were positioned on either side of the door like guards, and the freckled, bespectacled form of Percy Weasley hovered excitedly beside the wall, a quill and a heavy scroll of parchment in his hands, apparently poised to take notes._

 _The portraits of old headmasters and mistresses were not doing their impression of sleep tonight. All of them were watching what was happening below, alert and serious. As Harry entered, a few flitted into neighbouring frames and whispered urgently into their neighbour's ears._

 _Harry pulled himself free of Umbridge's grasp as the door swung shut behind them. Cornelius Fudge was glaring at him with a kind of vicious satisfaction upon his face._

" _Well," he said. "Well, well, well..."_

 _ **The Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **18**_ _ **th**_ _ **June 1996**_

It had been nearly four months since the DA had been found out and the subsequent arrest of Albus Dumbledore, an arrest which failed thanks to the stunning of everyone by Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Order Member securing the Headmaster's escape.

Delores Umbridge had committed the ultimate power play, however, as she had created Educational Decree Number Twenty-eight, which allowed Cornelius Fudge to move her into the Headmaster's position

Filch seemed to be in an extremely good mood; he hummed creakily under his breath as they climbed the marble staircase. As Harry, Ron and Hermione reached the first landing whilst on their way to a lesson, Filch spooked them by saying, "Things are changing around here, Potter."

' _Umbridge had obviously gone to some lengths to get Filch on her side!'_ Harry thought. The worst of it was that he would probably prove an important weapon; his knowledge of the school's secret passageways and hiding places was probably second only to the Weasley twins.

The subsequent discovery of the DA also managed to affect the alone time that Harry and Susan had, the relationship being consisting of stolen kisses which were interrupted by the warning by Hannah and Ernie of the impending visits by the Inquisitorial Squad.

During an attempt at interrogation by Umbridge, pandemonium reigned supreme as dragons comprised entirely of green-and-gold sparks were soaring up and down the corridors, emitting loud fiery blasts and bangs as they went.

Shocking-pink Catherine wheels five feet in diameter were whizzing lethally through the air like so many flying saucers. Rockets with long tails of brilliant silver stars were ricocheting off the walls.

Sparklers were writing swearwords in mid-air of their own accord. Firecrackers were exploding like mines everywhere Harry looked, and instead of burning themselves out, fading from sight, or fizzling to a halt, these pyrotechnical miracles seemed to be gaining in energy and momentum the longer he watched.

The fireworks continued to burn and to spread all over the school that afternoon. Though they caused plenty of disruption, particularly the firecrackers, the other teachers did not seem to mind them very much.

"Dear, dear," said Professor McGonagall sardonically, during a Transfiguration lesson as one of the dragons soared around her classroom, emitting loud bangs and exhaling flame. "Miss Brown, would you mind running along to the headmistress and informing her that we have an escaped firework in our classroom?"

The upshot of it all was that Professor Umbridge spent her first afternoon as headmistress running all over the school answering the summonses of the other teachers, none of whom seemed able to rid their rooms of the fireworks without her. When the final bell rang and the students were heading back to Gryffindor Tower with their bags, Harry saw, with immense satisfaction, a dishevelled and soot-blackened Umbridge tottering sweaty-faced from Professor Flitwick's classroom.

"Thank you so much, Professor!" said Professor Flitwick in his squeaky little voice. "I could have got rid of the sparklers myself, of course, but I wasn't sure whether I had the authority to do it, what with Educational Decree number twenty-six." Beaming, he closed his classroom door in her snarling face.

Fred and George were heroes that night in the Gryffindor common room. Even Hermione fought her way through the excited crowd around them to congratulate them.

"They were wonderful fireworks," she said admiringly.

The Occlumency lessons were forced to cease as well, Snape knowing that the writing was almost on the wall due to Headmistress Umbridge's reign of terror. In fact, if he were honest, it didn't help when Harry looked in a Pensive memory of the humiliation that James Potter and Lily Evans put him through, the humiliation of Lily casting a curse that made him impotent following him calling the redhead a Mudblood.

As though to underline the importance of their upcoming examinations, a batch of pamphlets, leaflets, and notices concerning various Wizarding careers appeared on the tables in Gryffindor Tower shortly before the end of the Easter holidays, along with yet another notice on the board, which read:

" _CAREER ADVICE_

 _All fifth years will be required to attend a short meeting with their Head of House during the first week of the Summer term, in which they will be given the opportunity to discuss their future careers."_

Harry had to laugh at his Careers advice interview, and how it had gone, especially as despite his wish to become an Auror, a career that he knew that Susan wanted to do as well, following in her parent's footsteps, but the intervention of Delores Umbridge put paid to it, especially as she had said something that made his heart fall, especially as he had found out that his father had worked in the DMLE before dying.

"Potter has no chance whatsoever of becoming an Auror!"

Professor McGonagall, on the other hand, tried to encourage his career options, by offering to coach him night and day if needs be.

It had been a month before the start of the testing for the NEWT and OWL exams, when Fred and George decided that it was time to depart from Hogwarts. Prominent among the onlookers were members of the Inquisitorial Squad, who were all looking exceptionally pleased with themselves, and Peeves, who was bobbing overhead, gazed down upon Fred and George, who stood in the middle of the floor with the unmistakable look of two people who had just been cornered.

Fred and George kicked off from the floor, shooting fifteen feet into the air, the iron peg swinging dangerously below. Fred looked across the hall at the poltergeist bobbing on his level above the crowd.

"Give her hell from us, Peeves."

And Peeves, whom Harry had never seen take an order from a student before, swept his belled hat from his head and sprang to a salute as Fred and George wheeled about to tumultuous applause from the students below and sped out of the open front doors into the glorious sunset.

In the immediate aftermath of their departure there was a great wave of talk about copying them, so that Harry frequently heard students saying things like, "Honestly, some days I just feel like jumping on my broom and leaving this place," or else, "One more lesson like that and I might just do a Weasley!"

Fred and George had made sure that nobody was likely to forget them very soon. For one thing, they had not left instructions on how to remove the swamp that now filled the corridor on the fifth floor of the east wing. Umbridge and Filch had been observed trying different means of removing it but without success.

Eventually the area was roped off and Filch, gnashing his teeth furiously, was given the task of punting students across it to their classrooms.

June had arrived, but to the fifth years this meant only one thing…that their OWLs were upon them at last.

Their teachers were no longer setting them homework; lessons were devoted to reviewing those topics their teachers thought most likely to come up in the exams. The purposeful, feverish atmosphere drove nearly everything but the O.W.L.s from Harry's mind.

Draco Malfoy had found a different way to induce panic compared to Hermione and some of the Ravenclaw students who had started organising study sessions.

"Of course, it's not what you know," he was heard to tell Crabbe and Goyle loudly outside Potions a few days before the exams were to start, "it's who you know. Now, Father's been friendly with the head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority for years as old Griselda Marchbanks — we've had her round for dinner and everything."

"Do you think that's true?" Hermione whispered to Harry and Ron, looking frightened.

"Nothing we can do about it if it is," said Ron gloomily.

"I don't think it's true," said Neville quietly from behind them. "Because Griselda Marchbanks is a friend of my gran's, and she's never mentioned the Malfoys."

It was day of the History of Magic OWL exam, and all around Harry quills were scratching on parchment like scurrying, burrowing rats. The sun was very hot on the back of his head.

' _What was it that Bonaccord had done to offend the wizards of Liechtenstein?'_ Harry had a feeling it had something to do with trolls, but was completely unsure. He gazed blankly at the back of Parvati's head again. If he could only perform Legilimency and open a window in the back of her head and see what it was about trolls that had caused the breach between Pierre Bonaccord and Liechtenstein.

Harry closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands, so that the glowing red of his eyelids grew dark and cool. ' _Bonaccord had wanted to stop troll-hunting and give the trolls rights…but Liechtenstein was having problems with a tribe of particularly vicious mountain trolls…That was it…'_

He opened his eyes; they stung and watered at the sight of the blazing-white parchment. Slowly he wrote two lines about the trolls then read through what he had done so far. It did not seem very informative or detailed, yet he was sure Hermione's notes on the confederation had gone on for pages and pages!

He closed his eyes again, trying to see them, trying to remember. ' _The confederation had met for the first time in France, goblins had tried to attend and been ousted, yet nobody from Liechtenstein had wanted to come…'_

Think, he told himself, his face in his hands, while all around him quills scratched out never-ending answers and the sand trickled through the hourglass at the front, time going by slowly…

He was walking along the cool, dark corridor to the Department of Mysteries again, walking with a firm and purposeful tread, breaking occasionally into a run, determined to reach his destination at last. The black door swung open for him as usual, and here he was in the circular room with its many doors.

Straight across the stone floor and through the second door, patches of dancing light on the walls and floor and that odd mechanical clicking, but no time to explore, as Harry felt that he must hurry.

He jogged the last few feet to the third door, which swung open just like the others, but once again he was in the cathedral-sized room full of shelves and glass spheres, his heart beating very fast…

Harry knew for a fact that he was going to get there this time, the urge to do so being important to him. When he reached number ninety-seven he turned left and hurried along the aisle between two rows, but there was a shape on the floor at the very end, a black shape moving upon the floor like a wounded animal. Harry's stomach contracted with fear, yet at the same time it was with excitement

A voice issued from his own mouth, a high, cold voice empty of any human kindness, "Take it for me, lift it down, now, I cannot touch it, but you can…"

The black shape upon the floor shifted a little. Harry saw a long fingered white hand clutching a wand rise on the end of his own arm, hearing the high, cold voice say, "Crucio!", casting the Cruciatus Curse.

The man on the floor let out a scream of pain, attempted to stand but fell back, writhing. Harry was laughing. He raised his wand, the curse lifted, and the figure groaned and became motionless.

"Lord Voldemort is waiting."

Very slowly, his arms trembling, the man on the ground raised his shoulders a few inches and lifted his head. His face was bloodstained and gaunt, twisted in pain yet rigid with defiance. "You'll have to kill me," whispered Sirius.

Little would Harry realise that today was the last day he would see his godfather...

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _Coming Up in Chapter 09 – Susan and Harry talk about the loss of Sirius..._

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the **Harry Potter series.** Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Social Media** You can now like " **GryffindorTom** " on Facebook and Twitter to get all the latest news, bits I'm working on, story updates and much more. You can also discuss this story and much, much more on Reddit - just navigate to r/ **GryffindorTomOfficial** on there.

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter / / / **Status** WIP

 **Distribution** FFN, AO3, GryffindorTom Online

 **Story ID 074 / / / Publish Date 05/03/2017**


	9. 09 - Losing Padfoot

Title **Dating Susan Bones / / /** Rating **M**

Chapter **09 - Losing Padfoot**

Warnings **Contains some mild language and violence throughout.**

This chapter contains some text from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _Previously on Dating Susan Bones..._

 _He was walking along the cool, dark corridor to the Department of Mysteries again, walking with a firm and purposeful tread, breaking occasionally into a run, determined to reach his destination at last. The black door swung open for him as usual, and here he was in the circular room with its many doors._

 _Straight across the stone floor and through the second door, patches of dancing light on the walls and floor and that odd mechanical clicking, but no time to explore, as Harry felt that he must hurry._

 _He jogged the last few feet to the third door, which swung open just like the others, but once again he was in the cathedral-sized room full of shelves and glass spheres, his heart beating very fast…_

 _Harry knew for a fact that he was going to get there this time, the urge to do so being important to him. When he reached number ninety-seven he turned left and hurried along the aisle between two rows, but there was a shape on the floor at the very end, a black shape moving upon the floor like a wounded animal. Harry's stomach contracted with fear, yet at the same time it was with excitement_

 _A voice issued from his own mouth, a high, cold voice empty of any human kindness, "Take it for me, lift it down, now, I cannot touch it, but you can…"_

 _The black shape upon the floor shifted a little. Harry saw a long fingered white hand clutching a wand rise on the end of his own arm, hearing the high, cold voice say, "Crucio!", casting the Cruciatus Curse._

 _The man on the floor let out a scream of pain, attempted to stand but fell back, writhing. Harry was laughing. He raised his wand, the curse lifted, and the figure groaned and became motionless._

" _Lord Voldemort is waiting."_

 _Very slowly, his arms trembling, the man on the ground raised his shoulders a few inches and lifted his head. His face was bloodstained and gaunt, twisted in pain yet rigid with defiance. "You'll have to kill me," whispered Sirius._

 _Little would Harry realise that today was the last day he would see his godfather..._

 _ **Broom Closet outside the Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **25**_ _ **th**_ _ **June 1996**_

"There is a room in the Department of Mysteries," interrupted Dumbledore, "that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all.

"That power took you to save Sirius tonight. That power also saved you from possession by Voldemort, because he could not bear to reside in a body so full of the force he detests. In the

end, it mattered not that you could not close your mind. It was your heart that saved you."

Harry closed his eyes. If he had not gone to save Sirius, Sirius would not have died. More to stave off the moment when he would have to think of Sirius again, Harry asked, without caring much about the answer, "The end of the prophecy, it was something about…'neither can live…'"

"'…while the other survives,'" said Dumbledore.

"So," said Harry, dredging up the words from what felt like a deep well of despair inside him, "so does that mean that . . . that one of us has got to kill the other one…in the end?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore.

For a long time, neither of them spoke. Somewhere far beyond the office walls, Harry could hear voices, students heading down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast, perhaps. It seemed impossible that there could be people in the world who still desired food, who laughed, who neither knew nor cared that Sirius Black was gone forever. Sirius seemed a million miles away already, even if a part of Harry still believed that if he had only pulled back that veil, he would have found Sirius looking back at him, greeting him, perhaps, with his laugh like a bark…

"I feel I owe you another explanation, Harry," said Dumbledore hesitantly. "You may, perhaps, have wondered why I never chose you as a prefect? I must confess…that I rather thought…you had enough responsibility to be going on with."

Harry looked up at him and saw a tear trickling down Dumbledore's face into his long silver beard.

Leaving the Headmasters office, he saw the one person who he knew that he could talk to, the woman who would be able to help him in his current mood. Escorting her to the nearest broom closet, Harry and Susan kissed each other, their kiss wiping away most of his worries.

 _ **Hospital Wing, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **29**_ _ **th**_ _ **June 1996**_

' _HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED RETURNS_

 _In a brief statement, Friday night, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be Named has returned to this country and is active once more._

" _It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord — well, you know who I mean — is alive and among us again," said Fudge, looking tired and flustered as he addressed reporters._

" _It is with almost equal regret that we report the mass revolt of the dementors of Azkaban, who have shown themselves averse to continuing in the Ministry's employ. We believe that the dementors are currently taking direction from Lord — Thingy._

" _We urge the magical population to remain vigilant. The Ministry is currently publishing guides to elementary home and personal defence that will be delivered free to all Wizarding homes within the coming month."_

 _The Minister's statement was met with dismay and alarm from the Wizarding community, which as recently as last Wednesday was receiving Ministry assurances that there was "no truth whatsoever in these persistent rumours that You-Know-Who is operating amongst us once more."_

 _Details of the events that led to the Ministry turnaround are still hazy, though it is believed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and a select band of followers (known as Death Eaters) gained entry to the Ministry of Magic itself on Thursday evening._

 _Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, reinstated member of the International Confederation of Wizards, and reinstated Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, was unavailable for comment last night. He has insisted for a year that You-Know-Who was not dead, as was widely hoped and believed, but recruiting followers once more for a fresh attempt to seize power. Meanwhile the Boy Who Lived-_ '

"There you are, Harry, I knew they'd drag you into it somehow," said Hermione, looking over the top of the paper at him.

Harry was sitting on the end of Ron's bed and they were both listening to Hermione read the front page of the Sunday Prophet. Ginny, whose ankle had been mended in a trice by Madam Pomfrey, was curled up at the foot of Hermione's bed; Neville, whose nose had likewise been returned to its normal size and shape, was in a chair between the two beds; and Luna, who had dropped in to visit clutching the latest edition of The Quibbler, was reading the magazine upside down and apparently not taking in a word Hermione was saying.

"He's 'the Boy Who Lived' again now, though, isn't he?" said Ron darkly. "Not such a show-off maniac anymore, eh?"

Everyone agreed with the assessment and laughed. They all knew it would be a long war now. Little would Harry expect something that his parents and godfather have done to backfire on him…

-Dating Susan Bones-

 _And that's the end of Dating Susan Bones_ _. If you haven't read the sequel, The Betrothal Situation, what are you waiting for!_ _For all of those who have read the story, I thank you very much. For those who have reviewed and given their opinions, I have appreciated them they much_

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the **Harry Potter series.** Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Social Media** You can now like " **GryffindorTom** " on Facebook and Twitter to get all the latest news, bits I'm working on, story updates and much more. You can also discuss this story and much, much more on Reddit - just navigate to r/ **GryffindorTomOfficial** on there.

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter / / / **Status** Complete

 **Distribution** FFN, AO3, GryffindorTom Online

 **Story ID 074 / / / Publish Date 05/03/2017**


End file.
